The Neuros 3 PocketPlayer, playa

You know when your friend is wearing overalls and it's not 1993 and you have to let them know to get something else on before they seriously embarass themselves in public? It's kind of like that; every time we thought we've forgotten about Neuros, they come back with some wack product that's too little too late. Well, the 1-inch drive player thing is pretty much over, but at least their new Neuros 3 PocketPlayer has a 1.8-inch color screen, MPEG4 video playback (at only 10fps, though), USB On-The-Go, MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, and WAV playback, mass-storage device compatible, and a 10-hour USB-rechargeable battery. The thing that's truly notable, however, is the open-source firmware. Don't have a codec support for say, shorten (don't ask), boom, slap it in there and you're good to go. Assuming you're a developer, of course. Keep on truckin', guys.

[len @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

God forbid someone wear overalls because they're useful. If you can't say something nice, just stick to obsessing over your shiny crippled toys.

[Aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

Relax, len.

The kind of person who wore overalls as a fashion statement in 1993 isn't the same sort of person who wore overalls out of usefulness.

They wanted the sweet Cross Colors overalls with one clasp undone hanging down low while they head bob to "Hip hop junkies" by Nice and Smooth.

[len @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

You miss the point. This blog spent all of last week gushing over the rebranding of an established technology, and yet they ridicule Neuros for being behind the curve - the fashion curve. As if most of us even know what "Cross Colors" or "Nice and Smooth" are.

Everybody loves snarkiness, but I'd prefer it if the fashion vulture attitude stayed on Gizmodo.

[Aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

"This blog spent all of last week gushing over the rebranding of an established technology, and yet they ridicule Neuros for being behind the curve - the fashion curve."

Ok, fair point. But I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not stopping anyone from getting their news. It's just news with the writer's views/commentary put in.

I find that much more enjoyable than straight news (when it comes to tech stuff) any day.

[Slaven @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

...and covering gadgets without paying attention to styles and fashion these days would be foolish. Most of the top selling gadgets (phones, iPods) got there by paying big attention to style, whether you like it or not.

[Chameleon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

Actually, the Neuros 3 and this Neuros PocketPlayer are two different devices. The Neuros 3 is still in development and we'll hear more about it later. It will have a more complete feature set, including recording.

Oh, and a portable MPEG4 Video Recorder / Player product is in development and should be released within a couple months. ;-)

All of these products will complement each other.

[Mark H @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

I like the idea of a mp3 player with open source firmware, a company that makes hardware should be about the hardware. Not about telling you what you can and can't do with your stuff.

[Ici @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

Hey, the comments are harmless and dare I say, funny. Keep 'em coming! I also like a bit of levity with my gadgets.

[Trejkaz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM]

Exactly. Open source firmware has always been about giving the user the freedom to do what they want with what they paid for. And anyone who thinks that only developers can flash firmware is a retard.

Plenty of people flash firmware on personal devices and aren't developers. But of course, people who buy iPods and other inflexible devices would never know, would they?